Four Eyes and the Freak: The Chronicles of Sparia
by Momma Duck
Summary: Started out as a one-shot where Spencer and Aria meet in fifth grade due to Alison's bullying, but has turned into a whole series of Sparia-throughout-the-years one-shots. Extremely lighthearted, rated K for now. Thanks for reading!
1. A Grand Start

**A/N: If you listen to "Stand By You" by Rachel Platten while reading, your heart will explode from the sheer cuteness. Just a suggestion….**

* * *

"Freak!"

Aria hit the ground hard, hands splaying out to catch herself before she got a mouthful of grass, and winced at the pain that shot through her left wrist upon impact. Struggling just a little, she rolled herself onto her back and looked through tears up at the clear sky. Her fingers curled around her injured wrist and she gingerly tested it, twisting for just a moment before a cry slipped from her mouth.

"Look at that," a voice laughed. A silhouette blocked out the picture-perfect expanse of blue above her, blonde hair swinging perfectly in its ponytail as the girl gazed triumphantly down at Aria. "It has feelings."

Aria squeezed her eyes shut at the laughter that started up around her and defiantly sniffed her tears back. That comment stung, and her wrist hurt, but she knew better than to feed the cruel beast that was Alison DiLaurentis. Crying always made things worse, brought down an unjust wrath of taunts that wouldn't stop until a teacher intervened, and even then it would be days before the jeers of "Crybaby!" stopped.

And, anyway, Aria was _eleven_ , come July. She could handle herself.

The tiny brunette used her uninjured arm to push herself into a sitting position, and Alison stepped back, a confused look crossing her face for a moment before she pursed her perfectly lip-glossed lips and haughtily flipped her ponytail over her shoulder. The laughter of Ali's posse petered out as Aria stood up, her expression stubbornly neutral, and Aria felt a little surge of triumph.

But Alison wasn't having any of this insubordination.

"What are you gonna do?" lilted Ali, crossing her arms over her chest and peering challengingly down at Aria.

Aria shrunk under the blonde's gaze, hating herself for it as she caught the flicker of victory in Alison's eyes.

Ali shoved the smaller girl's shoulder, smirking now. "Huh, Freak? Gonna run to the teachers? Go home and cry to mommy?"

"No," Aria responded. Her voice was small and she suddenly wanted to run away again. But she stood her ground, eyes trained on the dirt underneath Alison's pink Nike sneakers. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed her sketchbook abandoned under the oak tree a few yards away and hoped Alison didn't go after it, too.

Alison was having too much fun punishing Aria for her defiance, though. "No?" She laughed. "What? Are you going to fight me, then?"

Aria stared determinedly at the ground, unsure what to do. No one in the cluster of kids around them offered her any help. She certainly couldn't fight Alison. The Queen Bee had made sure to let everyone know she was practicing with the sixth graders for field hockey tryouts next year, while Aria was only average in P.E. and one of the shortest in their grade. She wouldn't stand a chance.

"Come on!" Ali shouted, shoving Aria again. "Do something!"

Aria pulled her injured arm closer to her chest and bit her lip.

"Hey, Ali, look at this!"

Everyone whipped their heads toward the oak tree, where a kid named Noel Kahn had wandered over and picked up Aria's sketchbook. Her stomach lurched as she saw him flip eagerly through the pages and she rushed over to yank it from his grip.

He held the sketchbook above his head, way out of her reach, and smirked. "What's in here? Something embarrassing?"

Her face burned. It wasn't embarrassing so much as personal. Like looking into her mind. "No!" she cried, standing on tiptoe, struggling to grab it. "It's just―"

"Over here, Noel!"

Aria watched in horror as he looked over her head to Alison and tossed the book carelessly to the blonde she-devil. She whirled around just as Ali caught it and opened to the first page, and Aria prepared to be humiliated.

Another voice called suddenly across the playground, freezing Ali in her tracks. "Give that back, Alison!"

Up marched a lanky, glasses-sporting brunette, her voice condescending as she laid eyes on the scene. Alison just rolled her eyes at the newcomer, but Aria knew she was most likely saved. While Spencer Hastings may not have gotten in with the sixth graders to practice, she was still tough enough to play field hockey and loved competing—and mostly winning—against Alison in everything from math class to gym. The brunette seemed a little oblivious to Ali's relentless smacktalk behind her back, but Aria figured it just made Spencer a stronger person for not gossiping back.

"What do you want, Hastings?" Alison impatiently shifted her weight to one foot, the sketchbook temporarily forgotten as she glared at Spencer. "Didn't mommy and daddy teach you to keep your nose out of other people's business?"

Spencer lifted her chin, undaunted by Alison's taunts. "It is my business." The taller girl looked over at Aria and smiled. "Aria's my friend."

Aria blinked, stunned. She didn't think Spencer even knew her name.

"You've got to be kidding me." Alison let out a short, harsh laugh, eyebrows raised in disbelief. "Four Eyes and the Freak are besties? Priceless."

"That has a certain ring to it, don't you think, Hastings," Noel added, chuckling. He theatrically swung his arm out and looked dramatically into the distance. " _Four Eyes and the Freak._ "

Spencer just gave him a little sarcastic smile. "It does, doesn't it, Kahn?" She shook her head and turned her attention back to Alison. "You know, Ali, one day you should quit with your dumb nicknames and learn some good insults."

A chorus of "oh"s and gasps started up from the group of kids around them, and Ali took a step closer to Spencer. Aria could see the rage burning in the blonde's eyes and hoped a fight didn't break out.

But Alison just roughly shoved Aria's sketchbook into Spencer's arms and hissed something quietly into the brunette's ear. Then she stormed off, Noel Kahn and her posse following, and Spencer and Aria were left standing alone beneath the oak tree.

"What did she say to you?" prompted Aria as she made her way to where Spencer was still standing, her face pale.

Spencer handed the sketchbook back and waved her hand dismissively. "Just to watch my back on the way home."

The taller girl nervously shifted her backpack strap and tugged at the collar of her blue button-down shirt, and Aria could tell she was worried. "You should tell someone. That sounds serious," said Aria.

"It's nothing I haven't dealt with before." Spencer shrugged. "I'll just have to hide my glasses so they don't get broken again."

"Spencer!" Aria exclaimed, grabbing the girl's arm with her good hand. "She's broken your glasses before?"

Spencer didn't answer, instead she looked down at the awkward way Aria was holding her wrist and furrowed her eyebrows. "Is your arm okay? I saw her shove you earlier."

"Just a sprain, I think," Aria replied, but her mind was still reeling from the fact Alison had once broken Spencer's glasses. "But are you sure—"

"Come on," Spencer cut her off and gently took her shoulder, leading Aria toward the picnic table the teachers all sat at. "I'll walk you to the nurse's office."

* * *

Aria came out of the nurse's office twenty minutes later, her wrist wrapped tightly with an ace bandage, and saw Spencer waving around a yellowed book and talking animatedly with the lady at the office's front desk. The girl waved when she saw Aria, and the smaller girl waved back, a bit surprised. She didn't think Spencer would still be here when she came out.

"Hey! We both have science next period, right? So I thought I'd just walk back with you."

A smile tugged at Aria's lips. How anyone could be mean to Spencer was a mystery; Aria was pretty sure she was the nicest girl in the fifth grade.

They meandered down the hallway in silence, until Aria caught a glimpse of the book Spencer clutched so tightly.

"'The Lord of the Rings'," read Aria. "I didn't take you for a fantasy fan."

She'd seen Spencer at the public library plenty of times, perusing the shelves for both fiction and nonfiction, but she didn't think Spencer would be interested in magic and hobbits and dragons or whatever.

Spencer's ears turned red. "Yeah," she admitted, a bit sheepishly. "I've read the entire trilogy, 'The Silmarillion', and 'The Hobbit'. I kind of love them. The lore is great."

Aria nodded. "Cool. I've never read them, but I watched the movies."

"You raise your hand a lot in English, right? And I always see you reading in the library." Spencer offered the battered paperback. "Would you like to borrow my copy? I promise you'll love it. Then maybe we can hang out and talk about it sometimes?"

Hang out with Spencer Hastings and talk about books? It was more than Aria had ever thought would come out of Spencer defending her. A tiny part of her was reluctant because the girl was so academically intimidating, but Spencer was looking at her with big, zealous eyes, obviously eager to share her opinions on Middle-Earth.

"Sure." Aria took the book and flipped through it. She tucked it under her arm with her sketchbook. "You want to walk home together this afternoon? We could take Alison on as a team if she shows up."

"Sounds like a plan." Spencer thought for a moment, then grinned ear to ear, absently pushing her glasses up her nose. "Every good team needs a name. How about...Team Sparia?"

"Sparia?"

They both laughed at how ridiculous it sounded.

"Spencer and Aria. Sparia," explained Spencer, swinging her arms.

But Aria was already nodding. "I like it."

They reached the fifth grade science classroom and shook hands, a bit awkwardly.

"We'll come up with a secret handshake on the walk home, okay?"

Aria nodded, and suddenly she couldn't help but wrap her arms around the tall, gangly brunette. She still couldn't believe the friend she'd just made. Spencer stiffened in surprise, but then hugged back.

"Thanks for sticking up for me, Spence," Aria sniffed into the crisp collar of Spencer's button-down. "You're a good friend."

Spencer patted her head. "Anytime, _Ar_." She pulled back, a mischievous grin on her face. "You're the coolest kid under four and a half feet I've ever met."

" _Hey!_ " Aria smacked Spencer's shoulder lightly, but she was grinning, too.

Team Sparia was off to a grand start.

* * *

 **A/N: Okay, this was the most adorable story I've ever written. Fifth grade Sparia is the cutest! I have no idea where this idea came from, but it turned out perfect!**

 **I figured Ali was the big, bad playground bully in elementary school, while Spencer and Aria were sort of outcasts. Spencer's love of LOTR was inspired by that Game of Thrones reference in 4x05: "I could give you the entire Targaryen speech from the end of season 1 but I will not waste my breath**. **" What a** _ **NERD**_ **, right? Kidding! I loved writing nerdy Spencer. Gangly, glasses, books—reminds me of myself…even now. And Aria, bless her, was short and proud in the face of pure evil. Good thing it wasn't her good wrist that got hurt. Gotta keep practicing drawing! Perhaps she'll let Spencer critique her work.**

 **I may keep doing little fetus Sparia one-shots like this. Maybe tiny Hanna and Emily will join the cast at some point, too, but we'll see!**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading! Please review, it makes my day!**


	2. Broken Glasses

"Crazy field hockey scrimmage today in P.E., huh, Hastings?" Alison bumped her shoulder into Spencer's, and the brunette lost her grip on her math textbook.

The girls both watched as the book skidded across the sidewalk and was stepped on by the kids heading towards their parent's cars or walking home. Alison made no move to help as Spencer scrambled forward to retrieve it, along with the countless scraps of notebook paper fluttering from between the pages.

Spencer hastily crammed the papers back into the book, her glasses sliding down her nose. A shadow fell over her and she looked up to see Alison still waiting, a bit impatiently, for a response.

"Uh, yeah, crazy," Spencer stammered, snatching a paper out of midair. "Look, Alison, I don't want to be rude, but I'm kind of—"

Alison waved a hand. "This is just going to take a second. I need to make sure we're clear on something." The blonde nonchalantly looked around as the last few scragglers hopped into their rides or disappeared over the hill. When they were alone, Alison kicked the textbook out of Spencer's hands.

Spencer lurched backwards, the skin of her palms scraping off as she caught herself on the sidewalk. She watched the papers she just rescued flutter away in the breeze and bit back a less-than-friendly name for Alison.

The Queen Bee stood over Spencer, her arms crossed in a manner Spencer knew she meant to be intimidating. Her voice was low, threatening. " _Look_. I saw you trying to chat up the sixth graders earlier. And you running around the field during the game, trying to impress them was hilarious." She leaned forward, placing her hands on her hips. "But it isn't going to work, _Four Eyes_. They're _my_ friends. They didn't pick _you_ to groom for the team next year and they aren't going to. You'll never be as good as I am, so you should just lay off. Understand?"

No, Spencer didn't understand. She brushed the bits of gravel from her palms and stood up, shoving past Alison to pick up her textbook. "Last I checked, you don't own me, Alison. I can talk to whoever I want."

"Last I checked," Ali retorted, mimicking Spencer's voice. Spencer felt the girl's sharp fingernails dig into her arm. "You're a nobody and you should be grateful for my advice."

Spencer yanked her arm out of Alison's grasp and whirled around, hands up in defense. "Just back off, Alison!"

She flinched as Alison's arm swung toward her, but the girl only plucked Spencer's glasses from her face.

"Fine! Let's see how well you play field hockey _blind_!"

Spencer watched as Alison's arm arced downward, her fingers releasing the thick-framed glasses just in time for them to fly into the concrete. The lenses shattered and the brunette fell forward with a gasp, scrambling to pick them up. Alison brought her brand-new pink sneaker down onto the frames, barely avoiding crushing Spencer's fingers in the process.

"Hey!"

Over the sickening crunch of her glasses, Spencer heard heavy footsteps approaching. Alison hoisted her backpack higher on her shoulders and sprinted away, laughing like some kind of maniac.

"Alison, come back here, you little bitch!" Melissa Hastings stopped beside Spencer and rested her hands on her knees, breathing heavy. Spencer knew her sister's backpack was probably full of those thick high school textbooks or she would have chased after Ali. "You're going to pay for that, kid! I'll kick your ass if you come near my little sister again!"

"Thanks, Mel." Spencer sniffled, picking up her glasses as Melissa retrieved the fallen math textbook off the sidewalk. Spencer stuffed the book into her backpack and tentatively placed her glasses back on her face. The world was fractured into hundreds of little shards.

Spencer wiped furiously at the tears that started to leak down her face. She always hated crying.

"Oh, Spence. Come 'ere." Melissa wrapped Spencer in a tight hug, suffocating her a bit with the scent of the same cloying perfume their mother used.

But Spencer didn't mind. She burrowed her face into Melissa's polo and let her big sister stroke her hair.

"I was wondering what was taking you so long," Melissa murmured. "I should have known it was _her_ again."

Spencer just sniffed in response.

"How about we go home and get your backup pair of glasses, then I'll borrow mom's car and we'll go get ice cream or something? Sound good?"

"Sounds good," confirmed Spencer.

It did sound good. Perfect, actually.

 **A/N: Whee, sibling feels! I thought the story about the time Ali broke Spencer's glasses needed telling. My own big sister offering to make heads roll and then buying me ice cream inspired the part at the end. I've always thought Spencer and Melissa were close before they got so darn competitive, and we know Melissa is super protective.**

 **I wonder what little blurb will come next? Maybe Aria spotting Spencer at the library?**

 **Hope you enjoyed! Review!**


	3. At the Library

_Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap._

Aria drummed a finger on the graffiti-strewn table, absently leafing through the foreword of the book she had just sat down to read. Her mind had been all over the place since she'd woken up that morning and her fingers were itching to sketch something, so, in an effort to relax, she'd convinced her mom to drop her and Mike off at Rosewood's public library.

Her little brother was currently whispering to some other fourth graders near the vacant kids section, instead of reading like they'd come there to do. She watched him run his hands through his newly-gelled, spiky hair, a proud look on his face as he probably boasted about it, then she turned back to her book.

 _Chime_.

Again, her attention wandered, this time over to the front entrance, where a vaguely familiar brunette was lugging two large tomes through the doors. Aria watched her hoist the books onto the front desk and smiled at the befuddled look the librarian wore. The girl was like a character in one of Aria's short stories: too smart for all the adults around her to understand.

A name floated to the front of Aria's mind as the girl nearly skipped into the tall maze of shelves. _Spencer Hastings._

She'd seen Spencer around school, of course. Spencer was the kind of girl that raised her hand for every question in class and was always ultra-competitive in gym. Aria had also heard the gossip about her from Alison DiLaurentis, fifth grade's resident bully, but never believed any of it. Spencer was different, sure, but the up-in-her-own-head kind of different, like Aria.

As Aria stifled a laugh at the librarian trying to heft the books Spencer had just left onto her cart, the door swung open again, the little chime announcing the arrival of two new library-goers. This time it was a blonde, her pudgy fingers dragging along a tall, slightly bewildered-looking girl.

" _Come on_ , Emily," Aria heard the blonde huff as they stopped in front of the large desk. The librarian smiled sweetly and the blonde placed both her hands on the counter in a no-nonsense kind of way. "We have a science project due _this Wednesday_ ," she proclaimed loudly.

Aria could see the blush on Emily's face from where she sat. She knew Emily from school, too. Emily Fields was quiet, shy, and was an excellent swimmer from what she'd heard. And Aria thought that she looked positively _thrilled_ to have such an outgoing science project partner.

The other girl—Hanna Marin, Aria suddenly recalled—was busy explaining everything they needed to the librarian. "I'm talking books about every planet that orbits our sun. Everything you've got! Maybe something about building models, too, because I have no idea how we're supposed to fit the entire freaking solar system into a shoebox…"

Emily caught Aria's eye and gave a timid wave, and they both rolled their eyes good-naturedly as Hanna suddenly threw her hands up for emphasis. Hanna was the type that smacked her gum in the back of class and always asked other people for notes. Aria herself had given her the list of math problems they had to do a couple of times, but had never really spoken to the girl. She'd been partnered up with Emily quite a few times and knew she worked better at her own pace, so she could only imagine how stressful it was for Emily to do a science project with the famous procrastinator that was Hanna Marin.

Spencer returned from the shelves just then, three normal-sized books in her arms this time, and wasted no time making her way over to the checkout, expertly plucking her library card from her pocket as she went.

Or she _would have_ wasted no time if Hanna hadn't practically attacked her and dragged her over to the table Aria was sitting at.

"Hi, Aria, right?" blurted Hanna as she plopped into a chair. Spencer and Emily followed suit, both looking alarmed and shooting apologetic glances at the tiny brunette they'd interrupted.

Aria closed her book and shrugged. "Um, yes."

Hanna turned to Spencer. "You're the smartest in our grade. I'm hoping you already have your science project done."

Spencer opened her mouth to respond, but Hanna had already turned back to Aria.

"I heard Mona Vanderwaal talking at lunch about how you two had already finished your project. Spill."

"We just hung little foam balls on string and painted them like the planets," said Aria, a little dumbfounded. "Pretty simple, I guess."

Hanna whipped back around and pointed at Spencer. "What did you do?"

The brunette pushed her glasses up her nose and launched into her answer with a glint in her eye. "Andrew and I listed what the atmosphere is made up of on each planet, along with its gravity, average temperature, and length of its orbit, then systematically painted and arranged the foam spheres in a spiral formation on an old coat hanger."

Hanna blinked, once. Twice. "Yeah, that sounded way more difficult than it should be. I like Aria's idea. What about you, Em?"

The swimmer nodded. "I told you _weeks ago_ that that's all we had to do, Hanna."

The librarian appeared, pushing her cart, and dumped a stack of books on the solar system onto the table. "There you go, girls. I hope you find what you need."

"Thank you," said Emily, her voice nervously raising in pitch.

"You're quite welcome, Miss Fields." The librarian beamed. "You tell your mother to come back with some more of those cookies she bakes. The little ones love them at story time!"

Emily ducked her head and nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

Hanna narrowed her eyes at Emily as the librarian waddled away. "How come your mom never bakes me cookies?"

"Probably because you're so loud all the time," muttered Emily.

Aria and Spencer exchanged a look of surprise, both trying their hardest not to laugh, as the blonde smacked Emily on the shoulder.

"Am not!" exclaimed Hanna, loud enough that the librarian shot them a look over her shoulder.

"You are," Emily argued, gaining confidence in her voice. "See, this is why we haven't done anything since the project was assigned. You talk. A lot."

Suddenly, a finger jabbed Aria's back. She turned and saw Mike standing there, a 'Goosebumps' book in his hands.

"I'm ready," he said simply. "Who're your friends?"

"They're not really…" Aria trailed off as she glanced back at the three characters that now occupied her table.

Emily quietly but stubbornly making her case for why Hanna was so loud. Hanna loudly arguing that she wasn't, in fact, loud. And Spencer smirking as she half-listened and half-read.

The dynamic seemed… natural. Comfortable.

And Aria sort of hoped she'd meet the trio again.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm writing these off the top of my head and they're all turning out wonderful so far! Writing the little Little Liars is surprisingly easy and fun. Oh, and while I'm at it… since I forgot…** THIS IS IN NO WAY CANON AND I DO NOT OWN PRETTY LITTLE LIARS OR ANY CHARACTERS. JUST THE DIALOGUE AND PLOT OF THIS FIC ARE MINE **… Alrighty then. Back to the excited rambling that you can skip if you want to.**

 **I'm pretty sure Aria, Spencer, and Emily's personalities are just fragments of my own personality, which is why I understand them so fully… But Hanna Marin...where do I even begin? Hanna is just straight up** _ **fun**_ **to write—and read, for that matter. In every fanfic I've ever read, Hanna is still the same ditzy, blunt Hanna we all know and love, and I always shake my head and smile at whatever the writer comes up with for her to say. It's so hard to botch dialogue for her, but so fun trying to mimic the one-liners from the show.**

 **Good gracious, this A/N is longer than the actual chapter. So sorry. I'm just sleep deprived, is all. THESE IDEAS FOR ONE-SHOTS KEEP POPPING INTO MY HEAD.**

 **It'd fill my (slightly incoherent) mind with sunshine and rainbows if you left a review and told me what you think! About the fic, about Hanna, about how much sleep** _ **you've**_ **had. Who cares? My little heart soars when I see review notifications, regardless what they are.**

 **Thank you so much for taking the time to read my stuff!**


	4. Dumpster Diving (Nearly)

Spencer was surprised the tiny brunette trudging along beside her was still paying any attention. Since they'd began the walk home, Spencer had been regaling Aria with all the exciting tales her favorite books held. And Aria never once seemed uninterested―except when she was glancing around to look for any sign that Alison and her posse was about to rough them up, but Spencer didn't blame Aria for that.

She knew that she tended to bore people. It wasn't uncommon for someone to roll their eyes when they got paired up with her in class or to hastily move lunch tables five minutes into a conversation. Spencer suspected that her classmates didn't really like her all too much, but hanging out with Aria was as easy as breathing so far. Aria didn't flee or look at her funny, which was a big source of relief.

"I've just started reading some Shakespeare," Spencer chatted, pleased when Aria's eyes lit up. "I don't understand some of it yet, but don't tell anyone that." She bumped shoulders with her new friend and shot her a conspiratorial grin.

Aria stretched her arms above her head and gazed into the sky. "It gets hard to read, sometimes." She pressed her lips together as she dropped her hands to her sides, her cheeks turning a light shade of red. "I only know because my parents are big on literature."

"I think it's cool," offered Spencer. "My parents don't really _encourage_ me to read. I think they just _expect_ me to, you know?"

A familiar feeling of self-doubt welled up in her chest, and for the twentieth time she wondered if Aria was just pretending to enjoy conversing with her. Spencer was suddenly sure Aria could school her in all things literature, because those looks from her parents made her positive she was constantly falling short. But Aria didn't look condescending or disappointed, just relaxed.

"Expect you to?" questioned Aria, swinging her arms. "I would've thought that they don't care too much. You seem to do your own thing."

Spencer grimaced. "They care _too_ much." She took a breath. "But it doesn't matter. What does matter is your wrist. How is it?"

Blinking in surprise, Aria looked down like she'd forgotten about her arm, where the ace bandage was still wrapped and her thumb looked a little swollen. "Oh, it's okay. Thanks, Spence." A beat passed in silence before the smaller girl pulled her backpack off and took out her sketchbook. "You wanna look at some of my drawings?"

Glad for the change of subject, Spencer watched Aria flip to a page where a butterfly had been carefully captured. It was really good, better than anything Spencer could ever hope of drawing.

"I was drawing this earlier, before Alison showed up."

Spencer was hit with a surge of pride, instead of jealousy like she usually felt when she saw someone doing something outstanding. "You're really talented, Aria. It's amazing." She raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to color it?"

Aria wrinkled her nose. "No, I don't think so. I might ruin it."

"I didn't even know you _could_ ruin something by coloring it," Spencer admitted. "I'm obviously not the artsy type."

Aria tapped her chin. "What's your favorite color?"

"My favorite color?" Spencer pulled a comical thinking face, then mimicked Aria in drumming her fingers on her chin. "I guess purple. Yours?"

"Blue," blurted Aria instantly, eyes darting to the pretty cerulean sky. "Right now it is, anyway. It might change soon."

"Nice." An idea popped into Spencer's head, one she'd stored a few hours ago. "Hey, how about that secret handshake?"

For about five minutes they worked on an elaborate handshake, one that Spencer was sure they'd both forget in about a week, and their guards slowly fell as they walked on without a sign of Alison and laughed until their stomachs hurt.

But, of course, Ali stuck to her promises, just like Spencer knew she would.

They'd just reached a neighborhood of brick storefronts and old apartment buildings when it happened. Before they got any forewarning, the blonde wedged between them and slung her arms around both of their shoulders in a manner that would look friendly to any bystanders, but Spencer could see the malice glinting in Alison's eyes and knew they weren't in for a pleasant meeting.

"Hello," came a vicious greeting through Ali's teeth. She squeezed them in a tight hug as they passed an older man in an apron sweeping the outside of his store. He smiled at them and the blonde put on a sweet face. "You guys are my best friends, you know?" she proclaimed, loud and exaggerated. Then the man was gone inside and Spencer was kicking herself for not screaming for help or, at the very least, shoving Aria into his arms for protection while she took on Alison.

But Ali was in complete control, her grip was literally around both of their necks and they were too petrified to do much of anything. Spencer knew Ali was dangerous―she'd seen the girl knock plenty of people to the ground without batting an eye or showing any sign of sympathy, Aria included in that list―and usually where Alison went, a few of her cronies went, and that was definitely cause for concern.

Spencer knew the unspoken rules, too. If you get beaten up by Ali's group, you don't rat them out unless you want the whole grade to shun you. She'd seen the table of kids who'd been pushed around and then ultimately told an adult. Suddenly they'd had spitballs attacking them everywhere and kids in the halls would shove past them like inanimate objects.

Spencer―and Aria too, it seemed―was good at remembering where she stood and didn't do much to jeopardize that. Yeah, she stood up to Ali, took a little extra torment for it, but Ali hadn't turned _everyone_ on her yet. She stuck to herself anyway, and figured it was better if people weren't actively attacking her.

"Alright, here we are," Ali said as she lead them through a gate into an alleyway where Noel and a trio of other kids were kicking cans around, trying to land them in the pair of dumpsters against the wall. "Hey, guys. Look who I found!"

Noel whooped as he bent over to tie his shoe, a can sailing over his head and into the trash. "Four Eyes and the Freak," he chirped, flashing his teeth in a mischievous grin. "Finally, we were waiting!"

"What was the plan again, Ali?" a boy with ashy hair said.

A girl with an ever-present scowl that Spencer knew from field hockey elbowed him in the ribs and snickered. "Remember why we're hanging out by dumpsters in the first place?" she muttered.

Spencer shot a glance at Aria as Ali released them and went to peek into the dumpsters. Aria was as pale as Spencer assumed she herself was, and had obviously caught on to what the 'plan' was. _Run_ , she mouthed.

They took off back towards the gate, Spencer making sure to keep Aria in front of her since the other girl was the slower runner. Hoots of laughter sounded out behind them among the sudden pounding of footsteps, and Spencer began anxiously urging her shorter friend on. She was considering lifting Aria off the ground and running with her when a hand closed around her arm.

Spencer lost her grip on Aria as a pair of arms picked her up around the waist and swung her back towards the group. She tried to dig her heels into the ground, but the girl with the scowl grabbed her feet, and soon Spencer was being helplessly carried toward the open dumpster Ali was waiting beside.

Spencer craned her neck in search of Aria, but turned back to Ali when she couldn't spot her. "Aria didn't do anything to you, Alison," she cried, anger seeping into her voice. "I get why you want to toss _me_ into a dumpster, but leave her alone."

"Relax, Hastings. Your friend got away." Noel's voice came from directly behind Spencer and she felt a stab of irritation at the realization that he was the one who caught her. She elbowed him in the chest, but it didn't do much.

Noel and the girl lifted Spencer up as they reached the dumpster and she wrinkled her nose at the smell.

"I told you to watch your back, Spencer." Alison shrugged, smirking as Spencer cringed.

But, suddenly, Ali's gaze shifted past Spencer and the blonde raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Drop her," hissed Alison, a little bit of panic flickering in her blue eyes.

All of the hands holding her released, and Spencer ungracefully slammed into the ground, her glasses sent askew and a jolt of pain running up her spine as her backside hit the asphalt. But landing on asphalt seemed infinitely better than trash.

It took her a moment to sit upright again, but she was able to watch from the ground in relief as Alison took off running. She pushed herself up and twisted around just as Alison and her posse bolted past the oncoming trio of people.

Aria rushed over to Spencer's side, looking concerned "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," affirmed Spencer as she fixed her glasses to get a glimpse of the pair of newcomers.

The man who was sweeping his shop was at the end of the alley, peering away at where Spencer assumed Ali's group ran. And another boy―a high-schooler, Spencer thought―with bright blue eyes and curly black hair was standing behind Aria, his expression one of sympathy. Spencer spotted a book titled 'the Great Gatsby' under his arm.

Aria turned to him. "Could you help me?"

They both took one of Spencer's arms and helped her to her feet. Pain twinged in Spencer's lower back and she stretched.

"I just ran into the street and called for help," Aria explained. "These two came."

The boy smiled. "I just wanted to help." He glanced over his shoulder and looked at his watch. "I gotta get home, sorry."

Spencer thanked him and watched as he hurried off, past the man from the shop who was now talking to a younger boy that seemed to have stopped out of curiosity. As Aria and Spencer made their way over, she could see he looked vaguely familiar. She figured he probably went to their school.

The older man scratched the scruff on his chin and peered at Spencer. "You alright there? They hurt you?"

Spencer wasn't about to tell him that her butt felt bruised, so she said she was fine if just a little shaken up.

He nodded in acceptance. "I was just telling this boy here what happened. He said he thought he knew you from school."

"Yeah, I've seen him before," supplied Aria. "He's a year older."

The boy rubbed his neck, his eyes trained shyly on the ground. When he looked up, Spencer was surprised at how pretty his eyes were, how cute the little dimple in his chin looked.

But what she didn't have time for was boys. She could worry about that when she was thirty and not busy landing crooks in jail like her parents.

"I live a few streets over from both of you," said the boy. "I've passed by on my bike rides plenty of times. I could walk you guys home in case you run into Alison again. If that's okay, I mean."

"Sure," Aria chirped. "Let's go."

"You kids be careful," said the older man, and he disappeared around the corner and back into his shop.

The tiny brunette beside Spencer linked their arms and off they went, the boy nervously following along.

 **A/N: You know, I just realized Ali plays field hockey in the books, not the show… so for the sake of this story just pretend like she's always played sports and nothing is amiss.**

 **And if anyone has any suggestions as to what they'd like to see next, please leave a review and I'll consider it. :D**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	5. INFO

A/N: Okay, so sorry this isn't an update, but I felt I needed to express this. This is going up on all of my stories.

Due to my relentless perfectionism and continuing procrastination, time between my updates can span to the length of months. And I'd like to apologize for that.

I'm a seat-of-my-pants kind of writer and that can cause problems, but I've also tried outlines, which only seem to drain the enthusiasm I have for a project. My ongoing theory is that if I set myself a deadline to update and maybe plan loosely how a story will go, things will be better patience-wise for you as the reader and guilt-wise for me as a writer.

Not all stories will be handled the same, so here is a list of how I'm going to go about each update:

 **(You can skim and read the bold text, if you'd like)**

 **The Voice of the Rebellion:** This story has died, unfortunately. It was basically a trial run. I still like the idea though, so **I** _ **may**_ **rewrite it and re-post it, but that may take months**. Otherwise, I'm putting it on an **indefinite hiatus**. I apologize, as I know there were some people who enjoyed the story.

 **Red:** I love this story so much and _**will**_ **be continuing** it **.** I've written an entire outline, so I just have to get down to the nitty gritty and write it out. I definitely will not make the mistake of posting before all chapters are finished again. This may take **a month or two** because it's a 27 chapter beast.

 **Pretty Little Prompts:** Honestly, this is a glorified archive of random one-shots and will continue to have **sporadic updates.** Unless I get a request, then you can expect an update on **Fridays or Saturdays.**

 **Four Eyes and the Freak:** Another unplanned story, but amazingly, my most popular. I may do **as few as two more chapters or as many as ten.** It all depends where the story decides to go. I will happily consider any ideas anyone has, so PM me or leave a comment if you have anything. :) Again, I'm going to update this one on **Fridays or Saturdays**.

Also, to zak194: That one-shot is coming soon! I'm trying to get my ass in gear lol

I have a couple new projects I'm working on as well! I'll write everything out before I post it, though.

 **Thanks for bearing with me!**


	6. Pranks of the Midnight Hour

Aria snuggled underneath her favorite blanket with a huge bowl of popcorn just as Spencer set two steaming mugs of hot chocolate onto the coffee table and plopped down onto the couch beside her. The shorter brunette crammed popcorn into her mouth and watched as the girl beside her leaned forward to drop no less than ten cubes of sugar into her drink.

"Spence, we're just watching a movie, not taking a math test."

Spencer blew on her cocoa and raised an eyebrow at Aria. "I know that. It's just, you guys don't have coffee, so I had to substitute."

Aria pulled a face. "Coffee is gross and for old people. I don't know why you drink it."

"It's amazing," said Spencer emphatically. "I don't know why you _don't_ drink it."

"Just start the movie, Spence."

Spencer pursed her lips and pressed a button on the remote, and _National Treasure_ started to play.

"This movie looks boring, are we really starting off the summer with it?"

The taller girl sipped at her cocoa and tugged at Aria's blanket, complaining— _Give me some blanket, I'm cold. Jeez, Ar, do your parents_ have _to blast the AC?_ —Once they were both settled again, Spencer looked down her nose at Aria. "And, yes. It was a late birthday present. I had to wait _months_ for it. It is _such_ a good movie."

"Okay, if you say so," Aria sighed. "But when _A Cinderella Story_ comes out, we're going to see it."

"Deal. Now hush."

* * *

"Aria. Hey, sleepy head, wake up!"

Aria jerked awake at a poke on her nose and looked around in bewilderment before she saw Spencer standing above her, hands on her hips. "Hi, Spence," she muttered sleepily. "What did I miss? Are they still looking for that thingy?"

"The movie's over, Ar," Spencer said, smiling and going to take the disc out of the DVD player. "You slept through half of it."

Aria sat up and stretched, kicking the blanket off her legs. "Sorry."

"S'no problem." Spencer picked up the nearly-empty popcorn bowl and looked into it, a corner of her mouth quirking in disatisfaction. "This could use some Milk Duds."

The tiny brunette perked up as an idea hit her. "Let's go get some."

"But, it's almost midnight," Spencer retorted. "We can't go out this late or we'll get in trouble."

"My parents won't know. They're probably already asleep, anyway."

Aria bounced up from the couch and slipped on her sneakers, then tossed Spencer her shoes. Spencer caught them, and, quite reluctantly, put them on. "This is a bad idea."

"It'll be fine," Aria reassured. "Go unlock our bikes while I get my allowance money."

Spencer threw her hands up and shrugged. "Fine."

Aria tiptoed up the stairs and listened intently to her parent's bedroom door. Two pairs of soft snoring came from inside. She grinned. _Perfect._ And Mike was sleeping over at his friend's house, so he couldn't rat them out.

Internally celebrating, she headed toward her room. She grabbed the thirty dollars she'd saved up out of her desk drawer and stuffed it into her jeans pocket, and then she rummaged through her closet for an empty backpack. Back downstairs, she opened the refrigerator and got two bottles of water out, just in case. As she was shoving them into the side pockets of the backpack, she saw Spencer had written a note to her parents and left it on the counter:

 _Dear Aria's parents,_

 _We'll be back, don't worry. We went for milk duds. Sorry to cause trouble._

 _From: Spencer._

Aria rolled her eyes at the scrawl at the bottom of the paper: _P.S. This was Aria's idea, not_

 _mine. But I am an enabler, so you should probably call my parents, too. Again, sorry._

After slinging the backpack onto her back, Aria slid through the front door and closed it as quietly as she could. She then bounded down the porch steps to where Spencer was sitting on her pretty blue ten-speed, holding Aria's pink one at the ready. Spencer shot her a reluctant look as Aria hopped on her bike, but didn't say anything except, "ready?"

Aria nodded and they started down the Montgomery's driveway. The cool night air was relaxing and the full moon cast enough light to see perfectly as they turned onto the road, and Aria soon forgot any worries she had.

"Did you know werewolves come out on full moons?" she said after a while of silent riding.

Spencer whipped her head around so fast she almost careened into a trashcan on the side of the road. "Werewolves don't exist, Aria!" She let out a nervous chuckle. "I'm already freaked out enough as it is, I don't want to think about werewolves. Anyway, I was already thinking about how my parents say the crazies come out on full moons. We could get murdered, Aria!"

"Relax, Spence." Aria waved a dismissive hand as they turned onto the shortcut that led through the woods to town.

"And now we're going through the woods," said Spencer cynically. "We really are going to go missing."

"Mike loves werewolves," Aria continued, fervently ignoring Spencer's comment. "He wants to be one."

Spencer scoffed. "You're really still talking about werewolves when we could _actually_ die."

Aria scoffed back. "You're really still worried? It'll be fi—"

"Wait. Be quiet." Spencer held up a hand and brought her bike to a silent stop. "I heard something," she whispered.

"We're near the campground, Spence." She grimaced. "Ew, and the kissing rock. It's probably just some teenagers. Let's go before they catch us and we get beaten up."

" _SHHH!_ " Spencer was getting off her bike and dropping it among the leaves on the ground. Then, before Aria could say anything in protest, the curious brunette was running into the thicket of trees and disappearing.

"Oh, god," blurted Aria as she scrambled off her bike and ran into the woods after her friend. She paused as she came to the clearing around Wright's playground, then whisper-yelled as she spotted the lanky figure darting between the swings. " _Spencer!_ What are you _doing?_ I really thought you were going to prevent us from getting murdered, not be the cause of it!"

Aria quickly became winded as she followed the girl through the forest. It was like chasing a bloodhound that had caught a scent. Finally, _finally,_ she saw Spencer crouching in the bushes on the edge of a clearing and dropped down beside her, wanting nothing more than to lie down in the dirt. Absently, she noticed some music was trickling from the clearing.

"What is wrong with you, Spencer?" Aria blurted. "What could possibly be _so_ import—"

A hand covered her mouth and cut her off, and she started before realizing it was only Spencer, the girl's brown eyes wide.

"Did you hear that?" came a distant voice. Aria froze as she immediately recognized it. Alison.

They waited a beat in absolute silence, until another familiar voice responded.

"Probably a squirrel, Ali." Noel Kahn.

"Yeah, probably," another voice confirmed.

Aria peaked through the twigs and leaves to see Alison, Noel, and about four other kids sitting around the kissing rock. One was passing around a lit cigarette as Alison changed the song on her iPod.

Spencer wrinkled her nose at Aria as they watched Noel cough out a puff of smoke

"Have any of you ever actually smoked?" Ali asked as she took the cigarette from Noel and placed it between her lips. Almost instantly, she tossed it onto the ground and smothered it with her shoe. She shook her head and gave a laugh, shoving Noel's shoulder. "That's freaking awful! You guys are idiots."

Aria leaned close to Spencer so she could whisper directly into her ear. "Spence, I think we should go. I feel like a creeper."

But Spencer was shaking her head, so Aria turned back to the group.

"So how are we going to get back at those two twerps?" Ali was saying as she lowered a Gatorade bottle away from her mouth. "I can't believe you let Little Miss Freak get away. She's like two feet tall."

Even in the dark, Aria could see Spencer's face go as red as Alison's sports drink. "I'm going to kill her," Spencer hissed. "No one except me gets to poke fun at your height."

"We could always try the dumpster thing again," supplied the same scowling girl that had been in that alley.

"No, no, no," Noel said, shaking his head as he swiped the Gatorade from Ali. "They may be nerds, but I don't think they're going to fall for that again."

Ali smirked. "I think being nerds would make them more likely to catch on, Noel. Do you even know what you're talking about?"

"Of course I do," he told her.

"Anyway, I say we come up with an epic plan, right now," said Alison, her smirk turning into a full-blown evil grin.

* * *

"Spencer, wait up!" Aria ran to pick up her bike just as Spencer was swinging her leg onto hers.

The taller girl paused. "I have an idea," she said. "We need to prank them before they can get to us."

"What about your Milk Duds, Spencer? And I thought you were scared of getting in trouble."

Spencer's eyes glinted in the moon's light. "This is the perfect opportunity, Ar. They'll never see it coming. How good are you at climbing?"

"Pretty good," responded Aria, worried. What on earth was Spencer planning? "Why?"

"Because we're still getting my Milk Duds."

* * *

The extremely bored-looking lady at the supermarket checkout gave Spencer and Aria a funny look as she scanned their purchases, but she didn't say anything. They grabbed their bags and went back outside to their bikes, and Aria watched as Spencer began stuffing things into the backpack, listing them as she went.

"A black blanket. Two black hoodies and two black scarves. Rubber snake. Shaving cream. A stuffed squirrel. A megaphone—which was quite cheap, if I do say so. Paper cups. Several packs of Milk Duds." She paused to take a sip from the energy drink in her hand. "Caffeine—"

"Yeah, that's enough of that." Aria took the can away, because Spencer was starting to look a little too jittery.

"And we're all set!" Spencer zipped the bag up and off they went.

Back in the woods, they left their bikes at Wright's Playground, leaning them against the swingset and facing towards the trail for a quick escape. Then they unpacked and Aria was put on rabies duty.

She sprayed the cute little fake squirrel's mouth with the shaving cream as Spencer poured Milk Duds into a cup. The taller brunette then passed the cup to Aria and turned on the megaphone to make sure it was working.

"Suit up," said Spencer, a mischievous smile on her lips as she tossed Aria a hoodie and scarf.

"You really didn't have to say 'Suit up', Spence," Aria said as she slid the hoodie over her head, then wrapped the scarf around her mouth. "It was kind of lame."

Spencer ignored her and held out her arms, which were draped with the blanket so she looked eerily like the grim reaper. Her face was covered with her own scarf. "How do I look?"

"Dead creepy," said Aria. "No pun intended."

"You remember the plan?"

Aria nodded. "Yeah."

Spencer clapped her hands. "Let's move out, then."

"You're such a dork."

* * *

Aria shimmied along the tree branch as quietly as she could, her palms sweaty as she tried to keep hold of the cup of Milk Duds and squirrel. None of the kids beneath her were listening, instead they were dancing around to an Avril Lavigne song. Aria squinted. _Alison likes Avril, too?_

No matter.

She waited until they were all kind of clustered together, but before she could dump the Milk Duds, Noel leaned forward and clumsily kissed Ali, much to Aria's surprise—and mild disgust.

 _Well, as good a time as any, I guess._

The Milk Duds spilled from the cup and sprinkled directly onto Ali and Noel. Aria smirked as Alison shoved Noel away and wiped a stray piece of chocolate from her hair.

" _Gross_! What the hell is this?"

Just as she was looking up toward Aria's tree, the tiny brunette chuckled the squirrel down.

It landed on Noel's head and everyone screamed as they saw it. Shouts of, "It's rabid! Run, run!" cut through the night air. They took off into the woods, toward the playground, and Aria had just enough time to scramble down the tree before she heard Spencer's part of the plan begin.

The voice boomed loudly and Aria heard tiny animals scurry away from the noise. "WHAT ARE YOU MORTALS DOING ON MY LAND?"

Aria rolled her eyes, but she had to admit Spencer sounded terrifying. She followed the path of trampled foliage until she could see the group huddled together, then she ducked behind a tree and watched.

"I, THE SPIRIT OF THE FOREST, DEMAND YOU LEAVE HERE OR I SHALL SEND MY ARMY OF WOODLAND CREATURES TO MAUL YOU!"

Then she saw Spencer's cloaked form run at them from out of nowhere, and the group sprinted away, shrieking in terror.

Plan successful.

Only…

"Wait a second," Alison pulled up short and tried to call after her friends, but they were long gone. She whipped around to glare at the hooded figure, who had paused in shock behind her. "Is this a prank?"

"Uh…" Aria watched as Spencer struggled. "No. Yeah, NO. I AM THE SPIRIT OF THE FOREST."

Aria slapped a hand against her forehead.

"More like the Weirdo of the Forest," Alison put her hands on her hips. "Who are you really?" She reached out and yanked the scarf from Spencer's face, and Aria could see her friend's face go pale. "Oh my _god_ , Spencer Hastings? Oh, priceless. Wait until everyone at school hears about this. Where's your little partner, is she here too?"

"Aria's not here, it was all me," Spencer said quietly, and Aria felt a surge of gratefulness. "And th-they won't hear about."

"And why is that?"

"Er…" Spencer looked panicked…

...and she threw the rubber snake from her pocket at Ali, turning to run for her life.

Aria slapped her forehead again.

Alison laughed loudly, pulling her camera phone from her pocket and snapping a picture of Spencer's retreating form.

Spencer was doomed.

When Alison had gotten bored and walked back to the kissing rock to presumably retrieve her stuff, Aria took the chance to sprint back to the playground. Spencer was sitting on her bike, staring into the middle distance with a look of sheer terror on her face.

"I'm done for," she said quietly as Aria hopped on her bike.

"Yeah," she replied. "You really are, Spence."

* * *

 **A/N: This chapter was so random but so fun. Looking up stuff from 2004 was awesome. The first thing I thought of when thinking of that time period was** _ **National Treasure**_ **, so naturally it made an appearance. My love of it was projected onto Spencer.**

 **Also, I'd like to say, don't smoke, kids. Even Alison doesn't approve. And don't sneak out at midnight. The werewolves'll get ya. ;)**

 **I'm starting to come up with a cohesive plot for this story, so definitely expect more next week!**

 **Please leave a review!**


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